Cold As Ice
by Frozen Melons
Summary: Ilyei lived happily. That is, until an organization took out her entire family. When the Avengers are called in to investigate a recent Chitauri attack, they find her. She wants nothing to do with them, but SHIELD is persistent. Will she give in even though she trusts no one? NO SLASH.
1. Curious Happenings

**AN: This is my first fanfiction here! The story is slightly AU, but the AUness in this story doesn't effect anything Movie-wise or story-wise, so you can continue reading without feeling lost! (AU part is that the way Bruce becomes the Hulk is more comic verse, but like I said, it will NOT change anything you already know)**

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Ilyei walked in the frozen snow. She walked because walking was nice and it wasn't as if anyone was hunting her. At least, she was fairly certain about that. The blonde haired girl could sense someone tailing her but that was impossible, given the wide-open, snow-ridden plains. At least, that's what she thought before she heard gunfire in the distance.

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After the Chitauri attack, the Avengers had gone their separate ways. Clint and Natasha continued to work for SHIELD after SHIELD's computer geniuses (Tony still complained that morons was a better name then geniuses.) erased all evidence of a Black Widow and a Hawkeye from the entire world. Of course, those survivors of the attack continued to drive Fury crazy by insisting there had been a woman with red hair and an archer.

Steve and Bruce all thought fit to join Stark and live with him. Bruce came after much pleading and threatening from Tony. ("Bruce, if you don't come and science with me, I'm afraid I'll have to kidnap you back and the last time I did that, well you can go and talk to some of my ex-friends about it.") Steve wasn't suited to wander the streets incase he walks upon a mass of fan girls (or anywhere really), so he accepted Tony's invitation to live with him with reluctance. Thor didn't have anywhere to go in Midgard, so he went to Jane Foster's home when he visited.

Clint Barton walked out of the quinjet and into the cold state known as Iowa. There was a group known as IMA (Independent Medical Association) that had been attacked by a bunch of crazies for some reason. His job was to find out everything he could about it and Clint was curious for why they would attack a seemingly normal building. He stealthily made his way into the white building and peered inside. It was charred and there were bullet holes covering every inch of the facility.

"Whoa, what happened here," he muttered to himself as he made his way to the air vents.

He was making his way to the security room when a couple of rough voices made him pause. It was strange, he was told that no one had escaped alive and that the group of crazy killers had left. He looked down from the vents and saw two men yelling at each other.

"This search is useless!" the taller man exclaimed. "Obviously she isn't here!"

"Charles, you know he won't be happy if we won't find her," said the shorter one.

Agent Barton didn't know who "he" was but he was sure that was the two men's boss.

"Then what do you propose to do? Run? You know he will find us!" feared the one called Charles.

Clint knew this girl was incredibly important if the headman was willing to kill two of his men to find her.

"Wait, we haven't checked the air vents, she might be there," stated the smaller man.

Clint immediately froze as the two men whipped their heads up to the ceiling and stared straight at him. The brown haired assassin dropped from the vents and quickly knocked them unconscious with a swift blow to the head. He dragged the bodies with ease out the door and headed to the distantly parked quinjet.

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**AN: So, how do you guys like it? The review box is calling for you...**


	2. The Past Hurts

**AN: Short chapter! Sorry, I've never been good at writing long chapters.**

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Clint had just been debriefed when he was called back to the one eyed man.

"Agent Barton, reassemble the Avengers. There have been reports of an upcoming attack on New York. So far, we haven't been able to gather anything else about it, but there have been reports about suspicious people messing with the geography," notified Fury. "Dr. Banner, Captain Rogers, and Stark are currently in the Stark Tower. Thor is still in Asgard, but he is ready to come when we need him. Avengers Assemble!"

Clint nodded and contacted Natasha. He almost dreaded the day when they had to be reassembled. He was still suffering from when Loki had controlled him and when he killed those innocent SHIELD agents. He shuddered at his perfectly clear memories. He thought about the mission he had just completed. How could he have been so sloppy like that? Positioning himself directly above the two men and without the cover of the darkness. He was a _master_ assassin. New recruits looked up to him. (Or at least they used to.) He was becoming a bigger and greater liability ever since Loki turned himself against himself. He was steaming with guilt and fury as he punched in Natasha's number.

"_Clint_?" asked Natasha.

"Fury says we have to reassemble the Avengers, apparently more people want to attack New York," Clint replied angrily.

"_Are you still upset over the helicarrier incident_?"

Clint sighed and answered, "Yes."

"_Clint it wasn't your fault, he_-"

"Tasha, it _was_ my fault. I perfectly executed the attack. I even shot Fury! Can't you see? I should've fought harder!"

"_Clint, there was nothing you could've_-"

"Meet me at Stark Tower."

And with that, he hung up. The guilt-ridden man sighed and called Bruce.

"_Hello_?"

"Hey Doc, its Clint. We need to reassemble the Avengers."

"_Alright. I'll tell Tony and Steve that._"

"Meet me and Natasha at Stark Tower."

"_Clint, are you alright? You sound distraught_."

"Yes, I'm fine," he snapped as he hung up.

It wasn't like him to get angry like that. Clint was really tired of hearing people telling him, _oh it wasn't your fault_ or _oh Loki was controlling you the whole time_. Truthfully, Clint did feel it wasn't entirely his fault, but he should've fought harder. All those innocent lives lost kept him wide-awake at night, and he drowning in guilt. As he made his way to Stark Tower, he thought about telling Nat about it. She was after all, the only person he trusted with his life.

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**AN: Ok, I need your guy's opinion on this story. Should I have some romance going on with Ilyei and an Avenger? Or should I stick to my original plan, which is no romance from the OC?  
**


	3. First Impressions

**AN: There is a hint of the slight AUness I said in Chapter One in this chapter. Like I said, it doesn't effect anything in the story. (Well maybe it just makes Bruce pause a few, no-one-cares-about seconds.) I've just always liked the comics' origin of the Hulk better, that's all. So here's a new chapter for you curious readers!**

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"Glad you could join the party, Legolas," observed Tony as Clint walked into the grand common area.

Clint was about to retort back, but a British voice interrupted "Sir, Director Fury is on the line."

Clint held back a startled jump when the voice came out of nowhere. He could never live it down once Tony saw him being scared of his AI. Said man shrugged and let Fury's voice fill the room.

"There are Chitauri wrecking havoc in Iowa. We need you all to rid this world of those aliens. Avengers assemble!"

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The six Avengers just arrived in Iowa and were fully suited and ready to take out the once hiding Chitauri. Turns out, there were only a few Chitauri, and the worst they were doing was killing innocents and burning houses. Bruce sat out in the quinjet and quietly watched everyone getting rid of the Chitauri.  
Sometimes he wondered why he still stuck around with Tony. Sure, he was grateful for life's little comforts again, but sometimes he wanted to run back into slum areas. At Stark Tower, he was working and researching in the medical field as well as accompanying Tony on projects that were inevitably going to blow up in the end. Tony's shenanigans caused Bruce to lightly chuckle.

Suddenly, the curly haired man saw something moving fast. He watched as the figure move closer to the Chitauri fight. At first, he decided against going after her. It reminded him painfully of the fateful day. Then he decided what worse could he get into? With that thought, Bruce dashed out of the quinjet with nothing but a thin coat on and out into the snow-ridden state.

"Hey! Hey you!" he shouted to the pale girl.

She suddenly froze at the sound of his voice. When he caught up to her, she backed away from him and tripped over her two feet.

As Bruce reached out to help her up, she suddenly shrieked, "DON'T TOUCH ME!"

His hand retreated to his side as the girl let herself up. Her hair was snow white, like her skin. Her eyes were the shade of incredibly light blue. They danced and sparkled like the way fresh snow did. Bruce stared at her awestruck. How a human could be so pale and live, he wondered. Once the deathly pale girl brushed all of the cold snow off her white jacket, she took off running toward the battle again.

"Wait!" Bruce called after her.

Once again, she froze at the sound of his voice and let the salt and pepper haired man catch up with her.

"What," she blankly stated.

"What are you doing?" he asked between breaths. Running and Bruce Banner just didn't mix.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she stated coldly.

"Getting yourself killed! There is a battle going on there!"

"Oh," she realized.

"Why didn't you want me to touch you?" inquired the scientist.

"No reason," she spoke quietly.

Bruce thought asking her questions wasn't going anywhere, seeing as she barely gave him a sufficient answer. It was starting to stir the green haze in the back of his mind, but he kept it under control. As he was going to ask one more time, he felt a small prick at the back of his neck.

He immediately recognized that feeling after years on the run and managed to choke out, "Run." before collapsing into unwelcoming darkness.

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**AN: So, how is the story so far? Good? Bad? Horrible? Remember, reviews are like coffee for authors! It gets us working on a new chapter!**


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